"He was a big dog // big dog // big dog // I wasn't scared at all // scared at all // scared at all..."
The instantly magnetic pull of the indie rock / alt dance pop cooker "Look What You Did" by Toronto alternative mainstay JEEN, and from her latest EP "For the Romance", is a wonderful sonic hybrid that, at once, feels as destined to exist in New York dance clubs, LA impromptu secret loft shows and in your head during midnight car drives. I mean, this track embedded itself in my art craving blood stream ever since I heard it over a month ago, shame on me for having such a wacked schedule that I bring it to you today (sorry Jeen). What is funny / compelling to me how this perfectly rendered track feels connected or artfully adjacent to so many artists and art forms. I mean I thought of a super diverse sideways amalgam of 80's artists like Madonna, like Tom Tom Club, like Danielle Dax, like Ann Steel and contemporary artists like Moon Duo, Mind Spiders, Mannequin Pussy. AND for sure, JEEN is so singularly unique that a comparison is difficult but in terms of artistic diversions it is less about direct comparisons but, rather, artists who stray exquisitely far from pop / indie rock / art punk derivatives and JEEN does that.
JEEN shares this about this utterly cool track (excerpted / bracketed) from LINER NOTES:
[Originally recorded in January 2025, the song almost didn’t make it to release. “A couple months after recording, I had some unexpected music business trouble that completely derailed me and the whole release came to a full stop,” JEEN shares. “I was crushed, so I was about to trash the whole EP and just start again, but I had a change of heart over the summer. I ended up using three of the original January recordings and one of them was ‘Look What You Did.’”]
[At its heart, the song captures the feeling of surrendering to something irresistible. “At the end of the day, it’s a pop song so I just wanted it to be light and easy to sing along with but hopefully still have some teeth/grit,” JEEN reflects. “It’s about being entranced by someone or something and following that feeling all the way, even though you can’t see where it will lead yet. I’ve had to learn a lot of hard lessons in this industry and 2025 tested me more than ever on that front, but for the first time in a while, I’m happy I’m still here, even if I have to follow a bit blindly for now.”]
HEY JEEN, if for whatever reason you are thinking about NOT releasing a track, please shoot it to me first (wink) so I can talk you out of it. From the slapping beat, the incredibly potent dance bass, the guitar work and JEEN's vocal countenance bathed in a sort of aloof bipolar emotionalism of f-u / f-me double fisted self-empowerment.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://soundcloud.com/thisisjeenmusic
https://www.instagram.com/thisisjeenmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/thisisjeenmusic/
http://www.jeen.ca/
https://jeen.bandcamp.com/
Prolific, enduring, and always from the heart, JEEN is Canada’s most beloved underground rockstar and she’s fighting for her life on For the Romance, her hypnotic, propulsive new EP.
The record marks her eighth solo release and sixth collaboration with producer Ian Blurton (Change of Heart, C’mon, Future Now). Across its tracks, JEEN stretches into bold new territory, from the Chappell Roan–esque disco lament of “Look What You Did” to the pop-rock charge of “Psychedelic Silver Lining,” and the earworm title track “For the Romance.”
“I had a series of existential crises trying to get this EP to the finish line, but I’m proud of the tracks that came out of it,” JEEN says. “I decided a long time ago this is the only way I can live if I’m going to be real with myself.”
JEEN has been making music since her teens, from co-fronting Cookie Duster with Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning to her 2024 album Gold Control. Along the way, she’s become known for her relentless writing and uncompromising standards. What keeps her going is connection with fans: “When someone reaches out telling me how the songs I made became a part of their life, it’s like being given a deep breath, better than any drug.”
JEEN, indie rock, alt pop, dance pop, art punk, hybrid music, funk bass, slapping drum beat, "Look What You Did" (Official Lyric Song), East Coast art punk, brand new EP "For the Romance", alternative music, subversive,
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